Korea Artist Prize exhibit opens at MMCA

An exhibition of the four artists nominated for the seventh “Korea Artist Prize,” granted by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and the SBS Foundation, is running until Nov. 25 at MMCA Seoul.

The 2018 finalists are Gu Min-ja, Jung Jae -ho, Siren Eun Young Jung and artist team Okin Collective. Gu presents a video installation based on a performance in which the artist and an acquaintance spend time on each side of the International Date Line on Taveuni Island in Fiji. The artist tackles civilization’s artificial division of time through this work.

Jung Jae-ho’s installation works and paintings depict apartment buildings and sci-fi animations made in the 1960s and ‘70s, both of which reflect the government-led desire for modernization and a powerful county with scientific technology.

Siren Jung presents new films and archives about gukgeuk, which has been a source of inspiration for the artist for a decade. Gukgeuk is a Korean all-female musical theater genre that boomed in the mid-20th century.

Okin Collective shows several films about small communities in cities that the artist team has been interested in for a long time.